In the prior art, products, such as poultry carcasses, have been weighed during processing by suspending the birds from articulated shackles having rollers which roll up a ramp and are then towed across a weighing device by the conveyor. Errors in weighing are introduced by this type of system for several reasons including the uneven and bumping action of the rollers as they roll along the ramp, dragging of the shackles against the sides of the ramp and variations in the weights of the shackles themselves. The variations in the weights of the shackles result primarily from the complex nature of the shackles.
Another prior art weighing system incorporates means for lifting each shackle with its product from the conveyor at a location where the conveyor makes a sharp turn. While the shackles used in this type of weighing system do not employ rollers and are simpler in construction than are the articulated types, other weighing errors are introduced by virtue of the fact that the product is being weighed as it swings around the turn. Also, since such a system can only be used at locations where the conveyor makes a sharp turn, installation is often times difficult.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a weighing system which uses a simple and inexpensive, light-weight shackle having no moving parts, and to use such a shackle in conjunction with a load cell or other weighing device mounted at a location where the conveyor is traveling in a straight line.